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Author Topic: Dante questions...  (Read 9771 times)

Kieran Walsh

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Re: Dante questions...
« Reply #10 on: March 20, 2014, 09:16:09 AM »

New question:

Is there a mechanism within the Dante protocol to pass channel names from a transmitter to a receiver?

For example, Lets say I have a 8ch input box. I name those channels 'Input 1' to 'Input 8'. Is there a way for whatever device I then patch those to in DC to be able to 'see' those names?
And is this something which is implemented in DVS?

It would be nice to be able to patch channels to a PC and have their names be inherited based on what names I had given the channels on the transmitter

Hi Chris,

I probably don't understand the question properly (this is a side effect of being too close to the subject). I'll answer what I think your question is first - and then draw another picture...

Dante uses names to create connections - so for example in Unicast mode a Reciever "subscribes" to a transmitter named (in your example "input 1") in addition the receiver knows the device name that the channel named "input 1" is being transmitted from.

Hence when you look at the receive tab in dante controller it shows input1@devce1 against the appropriate receiving channel.

If you change the channel name and/or the device name the subscription will be different.

In this way you can set up a "spare" stagebox for example, and as long as the channel names are the same, and the device name is the same, you can swap it with an identically named device and the receiver blindly subscribes based on the names (in default operation mode... it made sense to us to design it this way initially)...

I suspect you are asking a little more than the above - and that is a fair point... and is something I was just discussion "how to" with a client a few moments ago.

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Kieran Walsh

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Re: Dante questions...
« Reply #11 on: March 20, 2014, 09:26:43 AM »

The attached picture shows an "audio only" network (as I look at the world at least...)

What I mean is that in this picture the Dante devices- for example a Brooklyn II module is connected to its "host"... say a mixing console, Amplifier, DSP etc etc using just the Serial Audio lines.

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Kieran Walsh

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Re: Dante questions...
« Reply #12 on: March 20, 2014, 09:31:34 AM »

All that goes down the serial Audio lines are samples (OK so there are some clock lines too... to make sense of the serial audio data... but again, these are clock signals, nothing more nothing less)

Older systems used to hide metadata in specific slots in serial audio... this makes constructing simple systems with a "fits all" piece of hardware somewhat challenging.

From the above- as explained, the Dante devices are quite happily able to exchange all kinds of information using the IP network. Some IP packets will contain audio samples, others clocking messages, others might contain anything else that one might want to send between two nodes... including control messages like channel names etc. Because each of these packets is easy to identify, separate and manage in the network, we can send and receive them across a common cabling infrastructure.
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Kieran Walsh

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Re: Dante questions...
« Reply #13 on: March 20, 2014, 09:48:41 AM »

We include optional control lines with our product offerings.

Depending on the hardware platform we provide greater/fewer functions.

On say the Brooklyn II platform, the host system could "ask" for channel names based on the Dante API - it could use one of the optional control lines to make the request, and have the Data returned on these lines.

Dante controller does this easily on a PC or MAC platform, as there are specific Dante API resources available to partner developers to build on these supported operating systems without the need for Dante enabled hardware.

So it is "technically possible" to do this and a whole host of other things.

In fact it would be interesting to know what you would like to control through the network... there are some things like "channel names" that are common on the Dante network, which we already provide methods for dealing with... other things like head amp control and other host specific functions are dealt with by the partner manufacturer, and often will use software that is put into our hardware offering by the partner manufacturer, to allow them access to the control lines and network, and use it as they see fit.

Further still are other broader controls, aspects of which may be covered by organisations like the OCA alliance.

However, if there are any things that you want to see, please say- who ultimately builds this is rather academic, as the idea is the important thing initially.... so post away.

Thanks

Kieran
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Josh Millward

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Re: Dante questions...
« Reply #14 on: March 20, 2014, 12:39:13 PM »

other things like head amp control and other host specific functions are dealt with by the partner manufacturer, and often will use software that is put into our hardware offering by the partner manufacturer, to allow them access to the control lines and network, and use it as they see fit.

As an example at MediaMatrix, we use those control lines Kieran is talking about to pass information through the Dante interface and out onto the Ethernet network to allow control of input sensitivity, muting, and phantom power on input channels and output scale and muting on output channels when the I/O box is one of our Dante CAB devices.
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Chris Johnson [UK]

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Re: Dante questions...
« Reply #15 on: March 20, 2014, 02:23:42 PM »

Hi Kieran,

Thanks for your comments. That makes sense to me.

I was somewhat deliberately being vague because my question involves an idea I have for a product that doesn't currently exist. I might contact you further about this off-board at a later date once I do some more thinking on the subject.

But you did answer my question: Dante devices do know the 'names' of the transmitters they are connecting to, rather than just an 'ID' (like optocore, for example).

Thanks!

Chris

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Riedel Communications

ProSoundWeb Community

Re: Dante questions...
« Reply #15 on: March 20, 2014, 02:23:42 PM »


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